Village of Lewiston leaders had a
thumb (or two) painted teal during Monday's work session as a sign of support
for the It Happened to Alexa Foundation.

New Executive Director Sandra
Lahrache said, "We started a campaign called 'Thumbs Up for Sexual Assault
Awareness.' The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The color for
the month is teal. And I thought, 'You know, there's got to be a way that we
can spread awareness.' "

Collesano was a little reticent at
first, but said, "If chief can do it, I guess I can do it!"

Sutherland said, "You are good at
that!" after Lahrache painted his thumb.

She called the participants "good
sports."

Lahrache said sexual assault "isn't
a crime that only happens on college campuses. Personally, I've worked with
victims as young as 2 years old up to 83 years old. This is something that
affects everybody."

The Lewiston-based foundation assists
rape victims' families with travel expenses at the time of litigation.

"We work with victims of rape and
sexual assault during the trial process," Lahrache explained. "We pay for a
support person to be there with them. Any U.S. citizen, anywhere in the world,
if they may be traveling, or if they're at home - wherever it happens - we can
have a support person be there next to them during the trial process.

"Typically, 97 percent of rapists
never spend a single day in jail. With our foundation's help, we have an 86
percent conviction rate. So, as tiny as our foundation is, we really do very,
very big things."

Lahrache will be on site at the
Orange Cat Coffee Co. Tuesday morning, painting more thumbs teal in support of
the month's mission to raise awareness.